1/160 (N Scale) Robert E. Lee EXTENDED

Modeling Subjects Ships
21

Thanks for the new photo. I am still undecided, if I make the above-waterline hull very dark gray, or if I keep it white. However, at least i have some other progress to report!

UPDATE

Finally got the bottom of the luggage cabin finish. See now the beams, and the smoke-caused dark dirt close to where the boilers will be later on. And I also got the below-waterline hull black. That was a long work, as my airbrush almost “whispers” a black mist on a too limited area. I wonder, if there are ways, to increase the output of an airbrush to a wider area and more paint at a time. However, the ship with its wheels looks strange for today’s eyes but also very nice. I made sure that the red is a very decent one - not too bright. I mixed red with a small amount of black and a tiny amount of yellow, to make it very warm

And now it’s time for me to end my day.

22

Fire and corrosion are dangerous things, do not take them easy…

UPDATE

I drilled a hole into each of the chimney tops. This will allow, later, that a yellow light that emits from the LEDs inside the chimney will illuminate the bottom of the black-dyed cotton balls that I will use to imitate the black smoke of the two main chimneys. This will, later on, giving the appearance of fire below the smoke!
And I finished the assembly of the two paddle-wheels, but still have to do some paint magic on them to make them looking authentic and used. Because I mixed the silicon with corn starch, I was able to paint the silicon in the middle of the shaft. That’s what I call a good side effect.

The steam engine looks now used - there are small traces of corrosion all over! I still have to do some more aging where the machine has any edges, but it looks quite authentic already. Enjoy the photos!




23

The style of her time…

UPDATE
I finally made the decision to use a dark color, anthrazite (that’s almost black), for the lower side of the cargo deck’s overhangs . And I darkened further the gray of the upper decks, to get the color closer to the tar or asphalt sheets they used in those days for deck flooring. It now starts to look really real. When looking to a number of contemporary ships of that time, I see that they often used black or dark gray for many elements of a ship. While I leave the hull above the waterine white, I now have at least a dar area below the overhanfs - and it looks good! But I also encountered a problem: my regular plastic glue seems to fail on the connection between plastic deck and the nylon zip ties. Any suggestions which glue could manage that combination between these two materials? For now, the paint adds a bit to the holding power of the plastic glue, but just.



24

Try Zap adhesives 560 Formula Canopy glue. Takes awhile to set up but so far it has worked on everything I tied and it is water clean-up. ( Gene1 gave me the advice to try it.)

Nino

25

Thanks! I see it now on Ebay, and will purchase it. [Y]

26

AN UNEXPECTED COINCIDENCE / A THIN TRACE LEADS TO 99 X

Since I’d painted my model of the REL (Robert E. Lee) - that paddle-wheel river steamboat that dated back to the late 1860s, I couldn’t help but wondered, that this color combination of light-brown wood, red, white and gray had something so familiar to me. And I couldn’t point towards the right direction. That was, until I had a drive to outside of Kingston, passing by the small community of Harbor View, and then saw it! There was that newly built Kenturcky Fried Chicken store, and it had the same colors! I passed by there each day, but it was only then when I was able to pinpoint that strange familiarity!

And so, I decided to do some digging into the dusty books of history, to find out if there is any deeper reason of this color similarity…

We know, that the REL was built right after the end of the US-American Civil War, 1866, the very first year after the Civil War ended, is her year. And Kentucky Fried Chicken?

To my disappointment, Colonel Sanders (An honorable "Colonel of the “Commonwealth of Kentucky”, not of the US Army) was born long after the Civil War had ended, in 1890, and in Kentucky. Damn. That means, those colors were not necessarily a common color scheme of the 1860s. Was maybe Kentucky a Confederate country during the Civil War? Again a dead end, Kentucky was “half-half”. Neutral.

With other words, I could not locate any bridge between those both identical color schemes. But I still took a great benefit out from that search: During my investigation about Colonel Sanders, and with a hungry belly, I probed online for the PATENT of his chicken recipe. While i found his patent of the cooking method and tools, I learned that in order to keep it secret their ingredient list is a so-called registered Trade Secret and not a pentent that lays out publically all ingredients. But … when reading about the history of the cooking recipe, I came across a certain company by the name of Marion Kay Spices. Back then, before 1982, Colonel Sanders of KFC shared his secret recipe with Marion Kay Spices as he neded them to deliver that so highly special spice mix to all his franchised restaurants. In 1982, the new business owners of KFC sued Marion Kay Spices to stop all selling to their franchised restaurants, and to stop selling that KFC-labeled spice mix…

Dead end again? No. That company, that once produced for KFC that unique spice blend,still exists today. After they lost that law suit, the renamed that globally most-wanted spice blend to “99 X” and still sell it today! They do not advertise it, it is an insider tip only very few know who have conducted their research. Go to their website, and check it out! Also find the text of the 1962 KFC patent how to prepare their chicken pieces - you can’t do the one thign without the other thing.

That “99 X” seems to be the real thing, and I just ordered 25 oz of it!

Imagine that this all could never have happened if it wasn’t for the identical color schemes of the REL and a number of KFC restaurants…

Here one more URL for ya:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFC_Original_Recipe

27

Now I’m Hungry.

That’s cool you noticing the colors but Don’t eat fried chicken while building models!

I had a Photography business many years ago. I never ate fried chicken. That grease can really do a job on camera lens coatings.

KFC colors… attached.

Nino

28

Yes, I absolutely agree - fat can be very bad for many things. Any flat (matt9 surface would become glossy, even some fresh paints won’t stick anymore to the plastic surface. I make sure that my hands are clean.

UPDATE

I finally glued the deck onto the hull, and also aged the deck. Some more edge-aging will come later on. I also aged the wheels as their outer edge touches the water, which keeps those areas wet and even a little bit muddy or dirty.

But having reached here now, means that I have to pause until some items i ordered from the Internet will arrive: a small motor to turn the wheels slowly, and rechargeable batteries, and some more stuff. Can’t go on without having placed all those while I can access the relevant deck areas still.

29

UPDATE

Adding “windows”…
At first, that Kristal Klear appeared whote, but was transparent when dried. Very similar to the white school glue but slightly improved.

30

UPDATE

Making steam today. [:)]
Using regular white cotton balls, and then boiling them at first in water with yellow food color, and afterwards after an exchange of water, in water with black fabrics dye. This will give me a dark smoke with a tiny touch of yello (dirty black smoke). Also making plainly black smoke by leaving out the step with the yellow food paint. But, heck, the dyed cotton balls take LOOONG to dry…

31

Great idea for blackening the cotton; now let’s what you are going to do with them.

32

Thanks! But any more related to the cotton and smoke will have to wait until 4th of march, I need to buy a number of things first (electrical wires, LEDs), and also wait for the arrival from overseas of a small motor and other needed parts. Being in jamaica means, that most things have to be imported - 1 to 2 months waiting time each time… I also have to wait for all the 1860s figures to be designed and 3D-printed, and the intended cargo items. For now, I can continue only with other parts and in relatively small steps. Will do some weathering, and so.

33

I have been following your build with great interest.

I built Lindberg’s “Natches” many year’s ago, and these 2 kit’s share many part’s.

You will be dissapointed with the Grand Staircase, it’s out of scale and just look’s wrong. I had to scratchbuild mine.

You may want some figure’s for your ship. I used several “Prieser” N scale figure’s . They make several that are in period correct clothes. But, be prepaired, they cost DOUBLE what their other figure’s cost. ( I have no idea why. )

I cant wait to see what you do with the smokestack’s. For a more “Ornate” look, I went to a craft store and in their bead section , I found some bead’s that were shaped loke small Crown’s . They were perfect for the top’s of the smokestack’s .,

34

Soooo true, many parts are just not correct! Even the necessary surface details are missin on so many parts.

Figures: I try to talk to some 3D designers to create 1860s persons, based on the many photos seen inside my Facebook group “Paddle-Wheel River Steamboats, 19th Century”, and then if they succeed with that (and if I can pay them) I still have to get them 3D-printed, too (another financial obstacle). But if I get these 3D models, I will sell them on Shapeways, this way they benefit everyone who has ships or trains or dioramas from the 1860s. And I am sure there are thousands of potentially interested people worldwide.
Can you giuve me the URLs to those figures= I know only about German (Bavarian) 1880s figures from them, and only one set. Would be good if there’s more!

Yes, the stair is wrong, it has no curved sides. And the opening of the passenger deck for the stairs is also wrongly shaped therefore. Here in Jamaica, with no shops sellign sheet plastic or even things as basic as eneamel paint or plastic glue, I cannot easily scratch-build. I also don’t have any tools for that.

I would love to see the photos of your “Natches” and also of your figures.

I purchased deck cargo elements from “DP Model Train Products” for lots of money, but the package was stolen from the door after delivery to a friend’s US address (he always brigns me my items - cheaper than expensive international shipping). Now I am without any cargo I wanted. I remember I ordered curved barrels from him, food sacks, crates, and other deck cargo elements…

35

UPDATE

Waiting for some items shipped to me internationall to arrive. Meanwhile, I can go ahead only in small steps. I just assembled the beams that will hold the deck above. Starts to look good.

36

Here are a few that would work.

https://www.walthers.com/passengers-steam-era-people-pkg-9

I will have to dig through my mess in my workshop. Be prepaired , my steamboat has suffered quite a bit. It’s been through 3 move’s and has been in storage for the past 10 year’s . So it’s not as pretty as it use to be.

I also searched on-line for the figure’s I purchased, but couldnt find them. They may be out of production. I will post pictures of the set’s I bought, as soon as I find them.

Give me a few hour’s , and I will get back to you.

37

Okay, big thanks! Waiting…

38

Ok, first things first. If you click on the picture’s , they will get bigger.

The figures I bought were Prizer, and it was the same set you looked at, The Ludwig II set.

I bought 4 set’s and repainted several, so there would be a variety of color’s, instead of the same figure’s over and over. I also bought 2 sets of the steam engine crew that I posted a link to earlier.

I also repainted a few of these.

Now, to the mess that once was an original issue " PYRO " NATCHES. ( Pyro was the manufactuer of the REL ,and Natche’s , before Lindburg took the mold’s and started re-releasing them.)

( I built this in 1978, and did an overhaul in 1998. She has suffered in storage, and this is the first time I have seen her since 2008 . )

And, a few shot’s of the bead store finding’s , that I used for the Finial’s on the top’s of the smokestack’s .

Sorry about the picture’s being out of focus on a few of these… ( my digital camera suck’s … and my photography skill’s are not much better… )

Hope these help.

39

Wonderful!

To me, it is the same model kit. Just by advising different colors and declas, one and the same kit - so it seems - could be sold twice to a number of customers. Shame on the companies.

But I have good news for you: almost each model kit company offers a “parts replacement” service. I did that many times, too. You scan the building instruction (if you still have it otherwise i will help you out with a scan of my instruction), mark on the computer all missing or damaged parts, and then you simply e-mail the company with a request for replacement parts, the scanned instruction images attached. A few times I got replacement parts for free or had to pay only the shipping fee (postage), but most of the times there is a small fee for the part and shipping, but still an excellent deal.

If, for any reason, that shouldn’t be possible, there is a second chance, too, but not as low-priced as the first way: locate a person able to do 3D design and near to you (maybe a friend?), and have thta person makign a 3D model of the missing part based on a sample part or your measurements. Get that part 3D printed.

Let me see more of your scratch-built main stairway!

Figures: not suitable, I am afraid, because some of the men’s wear there is the Bavarian fashion of the royals. The ladies, however, look quite passable. And I like your steram engine crew though they are working with coal, not with wood. But that could probably easily be adjusted. Wished you would sell all those figure sets, ha ha ha!

Any idea what I can use to make some N scale water buckets? Are there any metal or plastic items that could come handy?

40

Thanks for that, but, most of the part’s are on the bottom of the box it was stored in. And, I tend to scratchbuild most of my own stuff, so if I need something to fix something else, I just build it my self.

It;s a mess on the bottom of the box…( just a mass of broken wood and glue) so I will have to re-build them.

On the one’s I repainted, I carved off all that “fancy stuff” and they looked fine after that. Unfortunately, I cant find any of them at the moment. Just have the ones I didn’t use that were still in their box’s.

I L O V E these guy’s .

https://plastruct.com/

I know you said your not really set up to build your own stuff, but you would be amazed at what you can do with just an X-acto knife, and a few small drill bit’s.